Careers Library: unconventional collaboration to boost learning

The primary goal of universities is to prepare students for future careers. The library becomes a recognized partner in achieving this goal and equipping students with the diverse skills required for employment. One of the problems identified by librarians through interviews with alumni was the lack of certain competencies essential in finding a good job and succeeding at it.

The paper introduces a unique collaboration of the Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) library with campus non-academic units, Career Services and Alumni office, in the creation and implementation of Careers Library, an online week-long event offering an opportunity for seniors to connect with alumni and get access to their expertise and advice on how to prepare for a career, skills to develop before leaving the university, strategies to use in a job search, resources to draw on in interview preparation and ways to navigate workplace culture. Run in March 2021, Careers Library individually paired each student with an alumnus of their choice for thirty-minute virtual conversations. With the organizational concept akin to Human Library, the event’s primary focus was on student preparation for future employment. After the meeting, when the need for skill enhancement became paramount to students, the library sent a document connecting them with relevant services and valuable information resources for future reference. Thus, the initiative did not only support library commitment to the university’s core mission but also advanced the effective use of collections and services. Learning about student information needs helped the library decide on additional workshops to offer, and what’s more, non-academic collaborators turned into library advocates and felt confident to refer students to the library. Survey feedback was used to evaluate the organization and outcomes of the project. The findings confirm the beneficial impact of the initiative and illuminate points for improvement.

Academic libraries innovate to continue to be meaningful. This case study demonstrates how the library can engage in broader activities beyond information literacy instruction and leverage alumni relationships to develop students’ competencies. The paper aims to give an overview of the project and its outcomes as well as to illustrate how it fits within the framework of library outreach activities and adds value to student academic experience.